The present invention relates to a picking-up apparatus for converting an optical image of an object into an electrical picture signal, particularly a television signal.
In known picking-up apparatuses such as a television camera a vidicon tube is generally used as an image picking-up device. However television cameras comprising the vidicon tube are very large in size, heavy in weight, and quite expensive in cost, because even the smallest one the vidicon tube has a diameter of 16.93 mm (2/3 inches) and a length of 150 mm (5.9 inches). Moreover deflection coils, focusing coils, etc. are also large and heavy and a power dissipated at a heater and various electrodes are also large. Further in order to drive the vidicon tube properly it is necessary to provide a power supply source of large capacity. A color television camera comprises a single vidicon tube or a plurality of vidicon tubes, e.g. three vidicon tubes. In the former camera it is difficult to obtain a high resolution in a displayed color image, while in the latter camera it is necessary to take into consideration a stability in registeration, and further the size, weight and power consumption of such a camera are extremely large.
Nowadays there has been developed a semiconductor image sensor of self-scanning type such as BBD and CCD. These image sensors are formed by semiconductor integrated circuits and thus are inherently small in size, light in weight and little in power dissipation. When the television camera is formed by such semiconductor image sensor, it is necessary to provide a two dimensional image sensor array of self-scanning type consisting of 500.times.400 elements even for a black and white television camera tube. The number of elements should be further increased in case of a color television camera tube. According to the present technical level it is quite difficult to manufacture such a two dimensional image sensor array of large size without defects with a high yield. Therefore such an image sensor is liable to be very expensive.